Why Microsoft Needs Twitter and Facebook to Beat Sony

"On November 17th, Microsoft released a new update on Xbox Live that allows all of us to have a new amount of latitude from the convenience of our Xbox 360's. After bringing us the convenience of Netflix with the last update, this new update gives users the ability to Tweet, access Facebook and listen to music from Last.fm all through LIVE. I bet you don't realize just what sort of stroke of genius this was on the part of Microsoft and how it will help push LIVE past Sony's online offerings."

The PS3 launch in 2006: 360 owners are saying "We didn't buy our console for Blu Ray or for browsing the internet! Baaahahaa! We bought our consoles for GAMES! ALL THESE EXCLUSIVE GAMES!"

Fast forward to Holiday 2009: 360 owners are saying "Facebook and Twitter and cross-game chat and Netflix (oops! On the PS3, too, now)are essential to the 360's survival. Microsoft will destroy the PS3 if they have these features!"

No, it was more of an issue that in "2006" (more 2007) that there were no freaken games all we heard was, but there was blu-ray on PS3.

Right now, the 360 has the games and it happens to have other social networking stuff. I don't use twitter or facebook, but don't mind it is there and tried. I love last.fm though and have been enjoying netflix for some time now!

MS is clearly broadening the appeal, yet 360 owners are still getting great exclusive games (not that I care if they are or not, multiplats is fine with me) coming up.

I use my PC for facebook. The last thing I want to do is use Facebook on either my 360 or PS3. First off, I don't have a keyboard. Second - I use my consoles for games, and to a lesser extend, DivX TV shows! I really don't understand who would sit around and use Facebook on either console. Does Facebook need, or care, to know about how many trophies you have? There's enough message spam on Facebook every single time somebody finds a goat on Farmville or needs somebody whacked on Mafia Wars. Trophies and Achievements are just another piece of spam on Facebook for me to ignore.

Seriously, If I'm on my console it's because I want to play games (or watch shows). Not send people messages. Not have people chat at me while they play Call of Duty. Not update my profile with trophies or whatever. Not to see what the status of all my friends are. I'm playing games.

Did the person writing this article forget all about Home? They directly reference WoW as an example of social experience online... and totally miss out that Sony already has the closest thing to that on their platform as well as 3 MMOs to be released on the console in 2010.

Grooveshark beats Last.fm hands down!!! It's actually better than Pandora which you can also get on the PS3.. lololol. =P

But don't take my word for it. JUMP ON your console and give it a try, well if your console allows you to browse the internet, as in PS3 and Wii... yes the Wii beats "Live" in internet browsing... ... the Wiiiiiiiiii!?! =)

To be honest, I think the whole social networking thing is a waste of time. I have better things to do than blog so people who don't give a crap about me or what I do with my free time can keep up with me. MySpace, Facebook, Twitter. They're all ultimately the same. If people are wondering what I'm doing, they can PM me on MSN and ask themselves. Personally, I ultimately try to remain anonymous on the net and try to attract as little attention to myself as possible.

The Xbox 360 needs some social networking site to beat Sony? Sorry, I don't think that blogging will increase sales of a console, when there's so many negatives going around. RROD, and whatever other errors that plague Microsoft's admittedly flawed designed console will save it. Now the 360 will continue to sell. There's some great games available on it. My brother-in-law, who is typically a Sony loyalist, and has been for the last 11 years, just got a 360 and is currently playing through the joys that are the Gears of War games, Left 4 Dead, and so on. The system should rely on it's strengths, rather than some social networking site for it's sales. I also have a 360, and for some games, it rocks.

I don't use social networking sites for anything, on any platform. Gaming consoles? This is the last function I will ever use either my PS3 or my 360 for. I don't even use my PC or laptop for them. I use my consoles for gaming and various other means of media playback. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but the modern consoles are meant as integral HD media devices; not social networking devices.

Crab, facebook is fine on the PS3. For the short stint that is didnt work, all you had to do was use the mobile page and you could still do everything you needed to. Including LOG IN AND SEND MESSAGES.

Unless all the little texting-freak Tweens you see hanging out at the mall and outside movie theaters suddenly have the urge to tweet and post their every emotion and thought while they are playing Halo, I don't see a great enough surge in Xbox 360 business to "beat" Sony in the market.

I don't think they need Facebook nor twitter to beat Sony, Infact I'd go so far as to say that the course of adding facebook and twitter is not the way to beat Sony and it won't. The only way I can see them beating Sony is if they get more diverse games added to the 360 library, which means something different than the shooters.

I mean at first the 360 had quite a few RPGs more so than the PS3 and so I ended up getting a 360 and picking up some RPG titles, but lately the PS3 has been getting some great RPGs as well as some other great action titles and such. Eh It's probably because I've missed a few games on the 360 though. Though for now, I'd say Facebook and twitter is only a great bell and whistle for those who have had it [Gold] for a while, and won't draw in a huge number of customers as say a great line-up of games.

overcharging for add-ons that come STANDARD on the PS3 charging for the right to play your online game online timed "exclusives" UNreliable hardware cheap easy to break disc tray amount of NOISE size of power brick....(oopsie, PS3 does not HAVE a power brick) controllers eating battery after battery Amount of BS from corporate UNeducated and or ignorant fans amount of discs for certain games INFLATING sales numbers 10M in EU, how many times can they hit the SAME milestone?

So you actually believe that Facebook and Twitter give XBL such an edge that it "put[s] Sony's online offering into the ground"? Are you smoking crack? The fact that people like you constantly buy this sh!t blows my mind.

MS should start making games. They could devote your $50 a year to create studios instead of these "awesome services" that are limited to gold members. Until then I'll write Xbox on the side of my computer and buy a 360 controller. I'll miss 3 exclusives a year and save $50.

Twitter and Facebook to beat Sony...then Microsoft has some serious problems. I can promise you that today when my 60+ year old coworker was asking me about which console I had a preference for; as I was going through the positives/negatives of all consoles, I definitely did not bring up Microsoft having twitter and facebook as one of its selling points.

overcharging for add-ons that come STANDARD on the PS3 charging for the right to play your online game online timed "exclusives" UNreliable hardware cheap easy to break disc tray amount of NOISE size of power brick....(oopsie, PS3 does not HAVE a power brick) controllers eating battery after battery Amount of BS from corporate UNeducated and or ignorant fans amount of discs for certain games INFLATING sales numbers 10M in EU, how many times can they hit the SAME milestone?

"INFLATING sales numbers 10M in EU, how many times can they hit the SAME milestone?"

Show me some sources where they have done this.

"overcharging for add-ons that come STANDARD on the PS3"

These add-ons inflated the price of the PS3 to epic proportions. you don't need blu ray to game. At best it reduced the number of discs for big games. Besides, Sony did the same with the PS2. Your point is moot if you choose to ignore that.

"charging for the right to play your online game online"

Lol. Rite? No one has rites-- millions of users disagree with you since they willingly pay for Live's services. Sure, XBL should be free to play, but then where would that leave PSN? And really now, $40-50 a year is not much.

"timed "exclusives""

Business strategy. Lame one too.

"UNreliable hardware"

More like pathetically laughable. At least they extended the warranty.

"cheap easy to break disc tray"

Yeah, but at least they are more reliable than PS3's. If your game gets eaten it's easier to take out. Regardless, this is a pretty lame point to bring out as its incredibly minor.

"amount of NOISE"

Again, minor, but the PS3 is much better built.

"size of power brick....(oopsie, PS3 does not HAVE a power brick)"

Well it's not like your carrying it around all the time. Hide it behind your TV, problem solved. But yes, again, this is proof of PS3 being better built.

"controllers eating battery after battery"

True-- I worry about the PS3 controllers though. I know once it dies its impossible to replace the battery, but I expect the batteries to last a long, long time, and at least if it's implacable I can wire it up-- hell I almost never play wirelessly thanks to my long usb cord.

"Amount of BS from corporate"

Because other companies like Sony don't do this, right?

"UNeducated and or ignorant fans"

The term is fanboy. It exists in all camps.

"amount of discs for certain games"

So what? Sure, it's more convenient to have one disc but clearly it didn't benefit Sony too much. However, as a gamer, I can care less about what Sony profits, and I do enjoy the convenience of single-disc games. Lazy Gaming FTW!

Gonna take a bit more than that. No Bluray, no AAA exclusives coming up like God of War and Gran Turismo (lol Forza..), not to mention Uncharted 1 and 2, Ratchet and Clank, god I could go on for an hour here. Pointless. MS is now aimed at the casual market, folks, show's over. Oh ok, unless you dig nothing but Halo and Gears of War sequels for the next X years.

besides to halo wars and odst and flopza thats it xboxwill be rip before gt5 finalfantasy 13 and finalfantasy 13 vs heavy rain superstreet fighter4 god of war will be putting the end to 360 rip 2005 2009 batterys last gen dvd holding the ps3 back gimping games like tekken 6 and final fantasy 13 pay on line and cant surf the web rrod problems dvd scratching dvd swapping m$ its not 1996 anymore

is make good games if they want to beat Sony. You think I care about twiiter and facebook? Make more games. Don't invest resources on this junk. This is akin to Sony wasting money on those stupid crying baby advertisements.

I remember when Xbox was about the games and people were saying we: don't need no stinking media player or web browser and the most famous one of course why make me pay for blu-ray. the only thing that would move a console is two things: 1.Good games. 2.Reliable console.

Has anyone actually used these features on their 360? I did may be once, the facebook app is hard to navigate, and Twitter looks great but I am not typing a anything on my 360 when my PC is always close by, or even my phone.

And if you are still fighting over Xbox or PS3, get over it. Having both systems is the only way to go!

Facebook blows twittering blows and that netflix you think is cool streams old azz movies and shows . just give me my ps3 exclusives . xbot is a whack azz console for retards that calls themselves 12 year old gamers

These are extra's and nothing more than a bullet point on the box.. Games and a great online service is the core of what is making the 360 successful. They don't need either of these apps to continue to deliver on that.

I really do like the fullscreen photos on Facebook on the 360, but that's where it ends. Virtual keyboards + cut down features = what's the point? We all have it free on the PC with all features, and a load of us by now even have it on our cell phones with more features... What's the point? And last I heard, LastFM didn't allow you to stream outside of the app. People are making these features into way too big features. ZuneHD with instant streaming is a lot more of a feature than cutdown PC products. Seriously now. And everyone has a PC.

You can use a standard USB keyboard on the 360. God help you if you are typing with just the virtual keyboard.

Why would they allow you to use LastFM streaming while playing a game? That would kill your bandwidth. I suppose they could restrict it to just single player games but with so many titles being "Live Aware" meaning they are always talking to Live it would be a tax on bandwidth to have streaming at the same time.. I couldn't imagine the crying and whining sessions people would have when all their games are lagging while they are streaming internet radio.

Sony's trying to give you your money's worth. That's why the PS3 launched at $600. Why it had 4 USB and various memory card slots, was going to have 6 USB ports as well as a wireless router and not just a network adapter. "Crazy" Kaz wanted it to be a full blown media and entertainment hub.

By contrast MS not only fails in that principle, they have the nerve to ask for more money. They didn't get it Xbox1 which had a DVD player but couldn't play DVD movies out the box, which also lead to one of the console's first mods, just as they don't get it with the 360.